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The whistleblower behind the federal investigation of the Fort Collins Veterans Affairs clinic said she was put on two-week unpaid leave for not "cooking the books" when scheduling appointments.

Lisa Lee, a former Navy reservist now on active duty in Hawaii, told the Coloradoan she and another scheduler were transferred from Fort Collins in March 2013 for refusing to hide wait times between desired appointment dates and actual dates. She said the suspension came after she filed an internal grievance about the transfer and scheduling practices.

The VA aims to see veterans within 14 days of desired appointment dates and uses it as a performance measure. It is a contributing factor to administrator bonuses, according to a VA spokesperson. Lee said a spreadsheet detailed which schedulers met the 14-day goal.